Cuba has faced an exceptionally challenging period marked by widespread blackouts and severe damage from Hurricane Oscar. Nearly 10 million people were left without power for days, with some communities like Havana’s Aguacate village even forced to cook with firewood due to interrupted gas deliveries. Many households endured prolonged outages, with some regions grappling with daily energy shortages, highlighting a new “normal” of unreliable electricity across parts of Cuba.

Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy attributed the infrastructure challenges to the “brutal” U.S. embargo, which restricts Cuba’s access to parts, fuel, and credit for modernizing its power grid. However, the U.S. State Department countered that the crisis is rooted in Cuba’s resource mismanagement, with citizens questioning heavy investments in tourism over essential services like energy.

Many Cubans, especially in rural areas, are dealing with daily life under limited power, food insecurity, and water scarcity. For Marbeyis Aguilera, a mother of three in Aguacate, power has become so intermittent that charcoal stoves are a necessity. Limited work opportunities and school closures due to the blackout have further strained communities, with priorities focused on restoring basic utilities and providing essential resources.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Oscar’s impact on northeastern Cuba added to the devastation, destroying homes and infrastructure. For many, the crisis recalls poverty from pre-revolutionary Cuba, with scenes of families cooking with firewood underscoring the country’s struggle to meet basic needs in the face of economic challenges and a deteriorating energy grid.